Ferland Mendy and Ousmane Dembélé answered questions from the press today, on their manager, captain, and highly competitive squad.
The briefing came amid some reports of a virus spreading through the French camp, four days before they begin their tournament – but it wasn’t a focus of the conference. Dembélé briefly addressed a question on his welfare, saying: “I’m fine. I had the flu last Tuesday. The whole team is better too.”
TalkSport reported that Kylian Mbappé and Kingsley Coman missed training on Thursday – but the alleged bug does not seem to be a major concern as of now.
It’s not a stretch to say that even if they have ailments of their own, this French team will still give headaches to any opposition. Their depth is truly remarkable, with several intriguing battles for starting spots; William Saliba is expected to miss out on a place in the first XI despite his form with Arsenal. Even Dembélé himself, with 44 caps and three tournaments with France already under his belt, attested to the highly competitive nature of the squad.
“I see it very well. It’s a good thing for the French team. Kingsley (Coman), Randal (Kolo Muani) and I are all pushing each other to raise our game.”
Embed from Getty ImagesFrance go into the tournament among the definite favourites. This side that narrowly missed out on back-to-back World Cups in 2022 and were pipped by Portugal on home soil in the 2016 Euros will feel a European Championship is long overdue to the trophy cabinet. However, Dembélé was quick to avoid complacency.
“All the teams are preparing. You can go down in a day against Austria, who can do you a lot of harm. Then there are the big nations like England and Germany. I think it’s going to be a tough Euro. There might be a few surprises. We’re going to have to be ready.
“Austria will be one of the most difficult teams to play against.“
France face one of the most difficult groups of the tournament, and will open their campaign against Austria on 17th June before going on to face the Netherlands and Poland. However, they are under the more-than-experienced hand of Didier Deschamps – who is seeking a unique international treble of World Cup, Nations League, and Euros titles.
Embed from Getty ImagesReferring to his manager, Dembélé said: ““He gives us a lot more freedom and confidence. As soon as we give it to him, he gives it to us too. He really likes his players and talks to us too. And when we see that, it makes us want to surpass ourselves.”
He was also complimentary about captain Mbappé, who has just departed Dembélé’s own Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid.
“He’s a good captain. He’s a leader. When things are going well or not, he says so. He always tries to push the group.
“He’s still the same. I talk to him all the time. He was focused with PSG, and he’s focused now. He knows that the Euro is important. The French team hasn’t won it for 24 years.”
Mbappé’s new teammate Mendy also appeared to take questions, though he was quick to admit he is not usually keen to do so.
Though Mendy lacks the international experience of some of his colleagues with 10 caps, he is prepared for his role in the tournament.
“I’m very happy to be playing in the Euro. I’ll try to give it my best shot.
A player can’t hope for anything better than a Champions League and a call-up.”
Despite being touted as the best left-back in the world by his manager Carlo Ancelotti, Mendy will have to fight for his spot in the lineup for Les Bleus.
“The coach makes his own decisions and you have to accept that. Personally, I give my all at club level, hoping to be here. It’s fine if I’m here. If I’m not, that’s football and I accept it.”
When asked what he felt was needed to make him a national starter, Mendy said: “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ll ask the coach and he’ll tell me. It’s true that I play a lot at club level, but you have to adapt and be ready. We can be called on at any time.”
Les Bleus’ opener on 17th June will be live on ITV, kicking off at 8pm – and you can follow their entire EURO2024 campaign here on FromTheSpot.